UIS joins global "One Billion Rising" campaign to stop violence against women and girls

The University of Illinois Springfield Women’s Center will join with activists around the world on February 14, 2013 for “One Billion Rising”, the largest day of action in the history of V-Day, the global activist movement to end violence against women and girls.

UIS students and staff have been practicing a dance, which will be performed at 11:15 a.m. outside the Public Affairs Center (PAC) Food Emporium and at 5:15 p.m. at The Recreation and Athletic Center (TRAC) prior to the start of the UIS women’s basketball game. The “One Billion Rising” campaign is activating women to perform similar dances around the world.

“One Billion Rising” began as a call to action based on the staggering statistic that 1 in 3 women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. With the world population at 7 billion, this adds up to more than one billion women and girls.

On February 14, 2013, V-Day’s 15th anniversary, UIS will join activists, writers, thinkers, celebrities, and women and men across the world to express outrage, demand change, dance, and rise in defiance of the injustices women suffer, demanding an end at last to violence against women.

As part of the effort, male students, staff, and faculty at UIS have signed a pledge to help end the violence. Male and female students have also made glittered self-portraits, which will be displayed during the dance performances.

For more information on “One Billion Rising”, visit www.onebillionrising.org. For details on the UIS event, contact Lynn Otterson, director of the UIS Women’s Center at 217/206-7173 or lotte1@uis.edu.